“When humanity splintered into their various fiefdoms, Axion Tassius saw the true reality of the situation. While Elvish forces regained their strength in the forests, mankind was tearing itself into pieces. With the intrusive Lucurians to the east and Veronan reptiles from the south, mankind needed to unite. Mankind needed to stand together. It was then Tassius saw his path forward, an empire of man, for the benefit of all and to achieve unity between the disparate kingdoms..”

- Sir Vertucci Janus, Traxian Preservation Society, “The Rise of Trax: Defenders of Humanity" Chapter 2: From Hero to Emperor: Axion Tassius

“Forward! You all are servants of the light now!” Taurox roared as he headbutt and cracked the skull of a skinwalker, sending gushy rotted brain matter flying.

“For the light!” The ad-hoc militia chanted as they beat back another wave.

Yet despite their spirit, Sophie could tell time was running out, their cheer was pierced by screams of agony and pain as more fell to the onslaught.

Near the center of the barrows where the ancient stone paths met, Sir Baylein and the charred one were engaged in a furious duel as between bouts he would cut down any of the dead that dared approach from around them. But even then, as with the freed prisoners, it was not enough. As they shifted around the central dais that expelled purple energy, eager undead would take the opportunity to throw prisoners down the well before they themselves were cut down. The rest of the shackled remained defenseless as a large horde still remained, and the few who resisted were quickly cut down and replaced. Under the watchful eye of the robed magister that left the prayer circle, the ritual continued relatively unabated.

With the adrenaline within her beginning to falter as pain flared up from her gashed up arm, Sophie gestured to her two allies and continued pushing forward.

“Never thought I’d take orders from an elf.” The bearded looking patrolman said. His hard eyes and tattered brown leather guard uniform all that remained of his profession in his decrepit state. Scars dotted his face and arms, remnants of war or from being a prisoner of the dead Sophie did not know, but that was something she wouldn’t ask. Best to let old wounds lie.

“Never thought I’d die with one either.” The haler of the two replied. His gray almost blue gray tunic and pants suggested this man was more of a farmhand. More rugged than the city folk apparel and certainly more in line with the style of Rumhol’s folks. Still, he was likely a more recent captive judging by his stubble and less blemished face, though the toil of field work still showed itself in his muscular body, untarnished even through captivity.

“Don’t worry son, we’ll make it through.” The patrolman replied swiftly before turning to Sophie, “I’ve fought your kind before, always tricky little shits, any bright ideas, commander?” He drawled sarcastically as the two used their acquired polearms to fend off a few more zombie-like undead as the skinwalkers behind them maintained a careful distance.

“No,” Sophie scoffed, “We free the others, that’s all.” Humans are always so short sighted.

The two snorted their agreements and Sophie plowed forward, taking a few more swings to beat back the nearby undead, only managing to remove a few limbs without ever truly taking down an undead. Her allies were slightly more skilled with the soldier making practiced jabs with his halberd that ended more than a few of the dead and skinwalkers, whilst the farmhand at least had force and managed to crush one or two.

Their sudden advance towards the prisoners had not gone unnoticed however, and an increasingly large group of the skinwalkers started to flow out of nowhere and halt their advance. To their left a lance of purple shot forth from one of the robed mages and Sir Baylein quickly threw a ward their way. It absorbed the blow but shattered the yellow aura around Sir Baylein, staggering the man and forcing him to retreat as the charred one took advantage of the opening to press the attack.

“We have to push through.” She spoke and her two allies agreed, the trio charging into the undead with renewed desperation as they hacked and sliced some of the nearby dead, Sophie herself finally getting another kill as she cut off an arm before finally decapitating her opponent.

“Commander!” The farmhand yelled earnestly and Sophie turned to look at him, “These hold more people as well!” And Sophie followed his spear to a nearby barrow.

Gritting her teeth, Sophie glanced back towards Riza and watched as the robed figures had put down two more prisoners that resisted as they became the next batch to be thrown in. Wait for me. Grunting, she nodded to the farmhand and the trio shifted their attention to reaching the nearby barrow. The farmhand quickly began yanking on the stone slab as the patrolman and Sophie protected him. Fending off some blows from the undead as the hungry crowd surged closer.

Trading a glance with the veteran soldier, they looked at the farmhand struggling and he gestured for Sophie to help the man. Doubtful, she complied regardless and the two desperately tugged at the stone as the patrolman twirled his halberd before gracefully, if a bit tiredly, planted it in the skull of a skinwalker, shattering the creature’s head as he lifted it back.

“Traded my life for a cushy patrol gig. I hope you remember us standing together on the fields of Hochmarsch, falcon knight. In glory and honor.” He murmured softly and Sophie stole a curious glance towards the man to find him giving a faint salute to where Sir Baylein fought before harassing the undead once more.

“Heave! Pull! Heave!” The farmhand yelled and Sophie followed his rhythm until a satisfying crack reverberated through their bones and the stone slab started coming loose.

The two jumped backwards as it fell and inside, a dozen odd men and women looked on fearfully, doubly so at the sight of an elf and all the undead in the background. Small horrified gasps and breaths were taken at the sight of the carnage and Sophie winced at their disdainful gazes turned onto her. With a huff she gestured for the farmhand to get moving.

“We’ve got to help the others, come on! Stop hiding! This is our chance!” He gestured frantically at the survivors. But aside from a brave if emaciated teen that shuffled awkwardly forward, the rest remained still, as if accepting death. “Come on! Move!” The farmhand yelled exasperatedly, and tried to move closer before Sophie watched the patrolman quickly turn him towards the undead.

Defeated, the farmhand joined the skirmish as the old man spared one glance inside the barrow before turning back.

“The Falcon Knight of Carrador comes to fight for your freedom just beyond this horde. Do not disrespect his honor.” He finished morosely before turning to Sophie, “Commander, do we keep going?”

For a moment Sophie just studied the dead until she remembered the commander he referred to was her. In a surprised shuffle she almost tripped until the teen steadied her and she allowed herself a moment of embarrassment as he seemed to stare intently at her pointy ears. Patting herself down she flashed the boy a soft smile and he returned a thankful one before she looked back.

The prisoners continued cowering and she could see the hungry glances of the dead setting their sights on not just her squad, but the people behind as well. Turning to where Riza and her group was, Sophie bit her lip as she knew what she had to do.

“They can make their own choices, the others need us now.” She replied.

The patrolman understood, a grim look on his face as he cut down another of the dead before gesturing for the farmhand to follow.

The larger man seemed uncertain, glancing back at the survivors and then towards Sophie, before finally turning his gaze to the prisoners at the central barrow. With a sad sigh he joined the others as the four of them raced forward. The cries of surprise from the prisoners as they left echoing in her ears.

“Where are you going?”

“What about us?”

“Help us!”

“Wait!”

The dead surged past them as they staved off any who strayed to close with a few quick jabs. Soon enough, the undead had lost interest in the group, opting for easier prey in the barrow. Holding her breath, Sophie kept running as she tried to ignore the terrified screams from behind.

With their breathing room secured, the four charged past the last few undead and the sorcerers quickly spotted their rapid advance. A small purple glyph appeared in the air in front of the robed man not with the prayer circle and the four scattered as a bolt of purple light shot across the air. Sophie jumped to the ground as the supercharged bolt flew past her a hair's width away, leaving her skin tingling as she landed on the mudded ground with a squelchy thud.

Sophie swore she could hear a snarl as the sorcerer called forth a few skinwalkers and ordered them to change the group, a pittance compared to the horde they had just escaped from. The farmhand and patrolman recovered quickly enough to form a quick defense. The teen quickly ran over and helped her to her feet as she assessed the situation, pointing at the now sacrificed prisoners and he understood.

Meeting the patrolman’s gaze, the veteran soldiers too, immediately understood her intent and focused back on the task at hand, bellowing out in rage and yelling to draw more attention to him much to the farmhand’s bewilderment. Muttering a small prayer under her breath she and the teen quickly ran the last few feet and engaged the skinwalker horde guarding the prisoners. The boy had quickly picked up a rusty axe and tried to desperately hack at the skinwalkers as Sophie tried her best to force her way through the horde, wildly slashing to keep the monsters at bay.

Struggling against them, she could feel pain flare up from across her back as one of the skinwalkers raked its dirty claws over her, and as she yelped from the pain the others looked ever more eager to attack.

“S…so…Sophie!” A familiar voice echoed over the din, and all hells broke loose.

Perhaps spurred by reinforcements, or the plea held in the voice. The line of prisoners, some shackled, some tied by rope, burst into a flurry of activity. Without being released or let go, armoured soldiers and civilians alike flung themselves at the monsters, some simply pinning down nearby creatures whilst others tried using whatever they had on hand to fight back. Predictably, the unarmed prisoners were being slaughtered as they resisted, and Sophie could only watch on hopelessly as Riza was trapped within the melee.

A gust of wind smashed into the crowd and many of the dead fell to the surprise blow, knocked off their feet as it blew past. The prisoners wasted no time taking advantage and using rocks, helmets, or just their own skulls to bash some of the fallen creatures in. Sophie spared a brief glance over to the source but Sir Baylein was already back to dueling the charred one, dodging blows and landing his own as the little wisps of yellow aura from the spell were already fading. Incredible, his speed and precision…could Eva…?

But the relief was temporary and as another ghoul jabbed a rusty spear at Sophie, she could hear the screams and cries resume as the creatures recovered quickly enough and began tearing through what little was left of the prisoners. Dodging the blow she countered with a lunge and the creature recoiled only to be split in the head by a halberd. Looking behind her, the farmhand and patrolman gave their commander a small nod and joined the fray. Reunited the trio surged forward and despite being outnumbered, finally broke through the undead mass.

“Looks like you came through.” The patrolman growled and as if on cue a flurry of arrows slammed into the undead hordes.

Surprised, Sophie spun around to find that out of the corner of her eyes, she could see an assortment of bows sticking out of the treeline surrounding the barrows. Looking back at the man she could tell he seemed annoyed, but the farmhand seemed ecstatic as he whispered under his breath. “Reinforcements, we’re saved.” Reinforcements? But who? Anna? That’s also way more bows than one if I’m not hallucinating.

Saving her question for later she followed the patrolman as he took advantage of the moment to cleave through another section of the undead and finally they reached where the prisoners were. Few remained standing, and almost none were uninjured. Groans and sobs were the only noise she could hear as the battered and bruised remnants cradled their wounds or struggled valiantly against the undead that remained, the farmhand and patrolman helping dispatch the enemy as Sophie looked around. We got here…but where did Riza go? Did she run? I mean that’s probably safest… Her thoughts were answered soon enough as one of the wounded, seeing her confused glances around the casualties, lifted a feeble hand and pointed to the beam of energy.

“Sacri..fice..” The mercenary murmured and Sophie turned to find one of the larger skinwalkers dragging Riza and another with one hand, tugging on their chains as it held a third man in his other hand, trudging dangerously close to the dais.

“No!” She screamed, alerting her compatriots as she sprinted towards the creature.

But time seemed to slow as she watched it toss the third man into the beam of energy, his scream echoing loudly before being silenced upon contact. It was like the world itself paused, as cracks formed around the space where the pillar was and a starry slurry opened up. From it, a devastating clank echoed throughout the clearing as a black metallic boot emerged from the nothingness. All sense of proportion seemed to wilt away as more black armoured parts slinked its way through the starway. Another leg, arm, torso, another arm, and finally a helmeted head, all pitch black with gnarled protrusions and juts all across the metallic armour. Crooked branches, spikes and what she could only assume were pieces of parchment decorated the armoured figure, and all the undead seemed to pause as it arrived.

The charred one too moved away as Sir Baylein turned to face this new foe, joined by Blademaster Taurox as he smashed his way through the undead lines, the ad-hoc militia close behind. Readying their weapons, they stood opposite of the dark knight, itself lifting a massive warhammer fitted with spikes as it seemed to glow with malice. Silence descended upon the barrows as both living and dead seemed to tense and wait for the first move.

Taking the opportunity Sophie dashed towards the skinwalker and surprised it enough for it to loosen its grasp on the chains, freeing Riza and the other expeditionary. With a roar, its noises provoked the dark knight to lunge forwards and as bull, falcon and darkness crossed swords, chaos erupted once more as the undead surged forwards once more.

Swiping at the skinwalker with a flurry of blows, it backpedaled in surprise and with a suggestive push, Sophie shoved it into the well of energy.

“No! You fool!” One of the sorcerers yelled and a violent wave of energy sent Sophie and the others flying backwards. “Balraugr!”

The charred one screamed in anger and following the command bounded over towards Sophie, its battle scarred body pulsating with ichor and fury. Throwing a meaty blow her way, she dodged just in time for is fist to crack the ancient stone tile under her, causing the Balraugr to roar in pain. Without giving Sophie a chance to recover it launched another attack towards her and slung a large rusted broadsword at her. In a panic she rolled to the left only for the breath to leave her lungs as a large foot stomped down on her chest, pinning her.

Sophie screamed in agony and jabbed the sabre into the Balraugr’s flesh, sending the creature roaring and giving her a moment to roll away at the cost of Wilfred’s sabre. Shit, shit! In a rage it threw its body weight at her and just before it impacted, two squelchy stabs abruptly halted its advance.

Pulling their polearms back, the farmhand and the patrolman gave her a small nod as a handful of heavily injured mercenaries held back the horde following them. Giving them a thankful nod she ducked over to find a strange looking skinwalker glaring at her with two axes in hand. It struck out and she shuffled quickly to avoid the blows and found herself staring at a stump where the neck would’ve been. It’s this bastard! Cursing her misfortune she led it on a small chase, trying to bait out a blow as the creature tried to land a killing blow.

Exertion began taking its toll and as her vision slowly grew fuzzy from the Balraugr’s blow, the one-headed skinwalker made a final attack. One axe landed in the dirt but the other bit deep into flesh as Sophie cried out. Blood and flesh poured from the wound as a sickening rip tore more out when the skinwalker ripped the axe back out, looking overjoyed in the process. But before it could land another blow, a fuzzy figure slammed into the skinwalker, tackling the creature and sending the two tumbling to her right.

“Ugh…Riza” She murmured as she pushed herself back up, staring at her own wound with mute horror.

The cat beat down on the creature and weakly slammed her fists against its fleshy head as the expeditionary jumped in to disarm the creature.

Sophie staggered over and pried an axe from the panicked skinwalker, letting the two move back away as she brought it down, splitting the skull and letting out a pulpy mess.

“Sophie…” Riza tiredly exclaimed, eyes widening as she saw Sophie’s wound.

“Riza.” She gave the cat a small smile.

“Look out!” The expeditionary called out and the two turned just as a torso flew past them.

Dread filled Sophie as she watched the charred one roar out loud, the remains of the farmhand collapsing to the floor.

“Bastard! For Carrador!” The patrolman yelled and charged forward, piercing the creature with his halberd.

His bravery soon turned to terror as it landed a blow on the shaft, breaking it in two as it threw a meaty punch at the patrolman. Within seconds, flecks of blood landed on Sophie as the man’s head was flung backwards, the force ripping it from his neck.

“Fools! Accept your fates!” The sorcerer outside the prayer circle yelled at them, and Sophie’s hands tensed around the axe. His purple robes fluttering almost demonically.

The Balraugr on one side, the purple sorcerer and his minions on the other, Sophie found herself back to back with Riza and the expeditionary. The cat shooting her a reassuring smile as her own hands trembled. And just like that, time ran out.